Big girl things

I know I probably say it all the time, but the kids are just growing up too fast.  I'm so proud of all Kaelyn is learning and can do now, but it also makes me a little sad knowing that she will never be my tiny little girl again.

Just look at all the big girl things she has been doing lately:

Riding her "big" girl bike.

Cleaning her room and making her bed all by herself (ok, this only lasted 3 days but I thought it was huge that she wanted to do this and she even had me make a little clean-up chart for her).

 Signing all her valentines AND writing her friends names. She did everyone single one herself.

My fancy Valentine girl. :)

She loves writing all the time now. She is constantly asking me how to spell things so she can write them down.

Reading. Like for real. Not just memorizing which she's been doing since she was two.

Coloring (and painting) in the lines. Some days she will sit at the table for hours coloring in her books with the greatest detail.

Oh yeah, and she's no longer oblivious to things that we say or are said on the tv. We can't spell things in front of her because even if she can't figure out she'll ask over and over what it spells until we tell her. She now knows what Disney World is (thank you Disney Channel commercials) and has been asking on a regular basis when we can go. She really wants to go "when I'm this age, because I really like princesses." It was even what she put in her dream cloud for Martin Luther King Jr. day at school.

And her imagination is just taking off. From making up games (which we don't always quite understand) to drawing pictures to making up and singing her own songs to go along with whatever she's doing.

I know I'm her mom and I'm a little biased, but I have been so impressed with her lately.

And speaking of growing up, I can't believe our baby boy is almost 2! There is entirely too much growing up going on in this house.

Sweet Rudy

Or, Rudymans as we sometimes like to call him. But whatever you call him our sweet little boy gave us quite a scare over the weekend.  We had been concerned about him last week, but were thinking he was just getting older and then maybe he had an ear infection or a little stomach bug. On Friday we had decided to call the vet on Monday to get him checked out. Saturday went from concerned to worried and then overnight to thinking we might have some very difficult explaining to do to the kids. He hadn't eaten anything since Thursday and wasn't really even interested in treats. In the middle of the night he started throwing up and couldn't even keep water down.

6:30 Sunday morning Matt ended up at the emergency animal hospital with him barely moving.  We tried to distract ourselves all morning while waiting to hear some news but I'd be lying if I said we weren't biting our nails a little bit with the "C" word crossing our minds.  The phone call from the vet finally brought us some relief. He likely has Addison's Disease. Which is serious. Left untreated it is fatal. I hate to think what might have happened if we had waited much  longer to bring him in. But it is treatable. And Rudy should be back to a normal life and live for quite a few more years.

Sleepy but doing much better.

Rudy is definitely a big part of our family. He was our first child. And the kids are crazy about him. As much as his barking and incessant scratching at the door to go out can get on my nerves, it really was strange not having him around for the past day and a half.


A few pictures of our little boy right after we got him (look how tiny he was!):

Snoozing at his first tailgate

Cuddling with cousin Tate.

Chasing golf balls as a puppy - his favorite activity still.

We are so glad to have him home and have our family complete again.  We love you Rudy and can't imagine life without you!